Vol. 3 Issue 114
Vol. 3 Issue 114 is the forty ninth issue of the third The Darkness comic series volume and 114th issue overall. This is the first part of The Age of Reason story arc, called Heart of Darkness. Synopsis Jackie Estacado is no longer lord over The Darkness. His Doppelganger has usurped his place at the head of his crime organization and his daughter Hope is quickly maturing and growing in her abilities to inherit the Darkness power for herself. Jump on board in the first part of this special, oversized issue of The Darkness that unveils the horrors that come to life when Hope's nightmares are allowed to roam free. Characters * Jackie Estacado * The Doppelganger * Hope * Jenny Romano * Aram * Cathead * Frankie Franchetti * Keeper * Pavel * Pavel's Fiancé Plot Summary Previously In the new version of the world, Jackie confronts Frankie Franchetti. He proceeds to kill him and his henchmen in a gunfight. Jackie then saves the kidnapped Jenny. Suddenly, he realises that she's pregnant. A Darkling appears and reveals to have had sex with her. In anger, Jackie grabs the Darkling by the throat. The Darkling then turns out to be the Cathead and the latter explains that was just a dream. Tired of being kept in the bunker, Jackie punches the Cathead and tries to leave. The Cathead then orders the Darkness to stop him and it incapacitates Jackie. Out of nowhere, Aram appears and frees Jackie. He says that he came to help Jackie to take the Darkness back. Meanwhile in the bedroom, Jenny plays with Hope's dolls. Hope orders her to stop playing with her toys and uses her powers to scare Jenny. She then calms Jenny down and tells her about the Old Ones being angels that will bring paradise to Earth when she calls them. Jenny then asks to call them now, but Hope tells that soon she will. The Doppelganger then comes in and tells Hope to take care of Jenny as Aram has returned. He then confronts Aram, who reveals to have obtained the Mask of Mana from a Tohunga exorcist in New Zealand. While wearing the mask, the exorcist can contain the demon without being possessed by it and then transfer to a new host. Although the Doppelganger and the Cathead are sceptical, Aram puts on the mask and then terminates his protection against the Darkness. He then invites the Darkness into himself, much to the Doppelgangers objections. As the Darkness takes over Aram, he announces it now belongs to him. Three days ago, Aram travelled to Veliko, Bulgaria in search of the Keeper that was guarding Balakov's heart. As he arrives, he finds the Keepers shop to be closed. A woman standing outside tells him, that the shop has been closed for months. The shops owner is gone and her granddaughter now runs it. The women reveals that the new owner has been taking young men to her shop, including her's fiancé Pavel. She tells that Aram that whatever Pavel has been doing with shop's owner, its slowly killing him. Aram then decides to enter the shop himself. Inside he finds the chest that should contain Balakov's heart, but instead contains a heart that belongs to someone else. He then breaks down the doors that lead deeper into the shop and find a young woman having an orgy with four young men. Aram asks her where is Balakov's heart and the women in return sends the men after him. He quickly defeats the men and then asks the woman where is the Keeper. As the woman smiles, Aram realises that not only is she the Keeper, she also exchanged her heart with Balakov's in order to become younger. The Keeper tries to convince Aram to let her keep the heart, but he doesn't listen to her and takes out the heart. As she begins to die, the Keeper is forced to take her old heart back. With the old heart in her chest, she turns back to a crone. The Keeper then turns to the young men and asks one of them give their heat to her so she could become young again. Aram stops her and orders the Keeper to let them go. When Pavel gets outside, he's hugged by his fiancé. As he leaves with heart, Aram tells the two lovers that if they really love each other they will never talk about what happened here. To be continued... Category:Comic Volumes Category:Volume 3